AotM ~ Red Dirt Heart Series by N.R. Walker (Series Review + Giveaway)

~~ Welcome to Sutton Station: One of the world’s largest working farms in the middle of Australia – where if the animals and heat don’t kill you first, your heart just might. ~~

Red Dirt Heart

Amazon

Charlie Sutton runs Sutton Station the only way he knows how; the way his father did before him. Determined to keep his head down and his heart in check, Charlie swears the red dirt that surrounds him – isolates him – runs through his veins.

American agronomy student Travis Craig arrives at Sutton Station to see how farmers make a living from one of the harshest environments on earth. But it’s not the barren, brutal and totally beautiful landscapes that capture him so completely.

It’s the man with the red dirt heart.

Charlie runs a farm "Station" in Australia. He has taken on a student (he later discovers Travis has graduated already), Travis on for 4 weeks. Travis is from a small town near Austin Texas. Charlie is attracted to Travis. They get along well and have a lot in common. Charlie works with Travis the first couple of days, shocked and pleased at how well he knows what he is doing, then he starts to avoid Travis. Putting him to work with the other hands. He can't keep his mind off Travis. He wants Travis badly, but has convinced himself that Travis is probably straight, and he would never take a chance at home anyway. After a few days, Travis corners him and asks for an explanation. Travis makes the first move and when they kiss, sparks fly.

None of the Station hands, except Ma and George know Charlie is gay. Charlie believes he will spend the rest of his life alone and miserable. Listening to his dead father's words "No fairy will run his Station". Will he listen to his father or will he fight to keep Travis?

I love NR's writing and, I haven't met a book by her yet that I haven't absolutely adored. This book flows well. There was a lot of talk about Ranching, but she makes it interesting. I was never bored. Travis and Charlie have and awesome chemistry and when they are together it's electric, and the sex was smoking but sweet too. Well on to book 2, and more Travis and Charlie! 

Red Dirt Heart 2

Amazon

Up until Travis arrived on his doorstep, Charlie had lived a very solitary life. He had surrounded himself with isolation; a couple million acres of red dirt, scorching sun and loneliness.

Six months on, winter has settled over the desert, and Charlie has the life he never dreamed possible. But living and working together, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for six months straight starts to take its toll.

Charlie is a stubborn, stubborn man, who tends to have more conversations in his head than what comes out his mouth, whereas Travis has no problem saying what’s on his mind. And even as they both struggle to communicate, struggle to make sense of need versus want, Charlie can see that he’s pushing Travis away - yet seems helpless to stop it.

When it all boils down to whether Travis should stay or go, maybe the decision won’t be theirs to make.

It's been 6 months since Travis informed Charlie he was staying in Australia. Things have been going well. They have gotten into a routine of working together during the day and spending their nights tangled together in between the sheets.

But all too soon Charlie fearing Travis will get tired of the Outback starts to push Travis away. Will Travis leave and go back home to America? Will he have a choice?

This book was sweet, steamy and angsty as all hell. I sat on the edge of my seat biting my nails almost the entire book. But it was just as good as book 1!! I couldn't put it down. I read the entire book in about 12 hours, and didn't do much else!! lol

On to book 3!! 

Red Dirt Heart 3

Amazon

Life for Charlie Sutton has never been better, or busier. With Travis now a permanent fixture of Sutton Station, a permanent fixture at Charlie’s side, Charlie’s convinced he couldn’t do anything on his ever-growing to-do list without him.

He can run a multimillion dollar cattle business, finish his degree, try and further the local beef industry, deal with staff issues, Ma’s failing health, and an attention-demanding wombat. He can even deal with an unexpected visitor and some shattering news.

He can deal with it all, as long as he has Travis.

But what happens when he doesn’t?

Red Dirt Heart 3 is the story of Charlie Sutton finally realising he can be the man Travis Craig deserves, even if he doesn’t have Travis. It’s a story of love, family, holding on, letting go and coming home.

Another awesome installment of Travis and Charlie. I laughed, I cried, I smiled and then I cried again (happy tears this time).

I never tire of reading Charlie and Travis's story. There is so much to tell. They are so good together. The chemistry is amazing. I can't wait for book 4 to get inside Travis's head.

Red Dirt Heart 4

Amazon

Moving from a Texas ranch to an Australian Outback station was a life changing decision for Travis Craig. Though it wasn’t really a decision at all. Something in his bones told him to go, though he had no clue as to why.

Until he met Sutton Station’s owner, Charlie.

Loving Charlie shouldn’t have been easy. The man was stubborn, and riddled with crippling self-doubt. No, it shouldn’t have been easy at all. Yet somehow, falling in love with Charlie was the easiest thing in the world.

Loving him was easy. Living with him, teaching him how to love in return and, more importantly, how to love himself, was not.

But Travis knew all along it’d be worth it. He knew the man with the red dirt heart was destined to be his. Just like he knew the red dirt that surrounded him was where he was supposed to be.

In the final instalment of the Red Dirt Series, we see Charlie through Travis’ eyes. We see how much he’s grown and how much he loves. We go back to Texas with them, and we see Charlie get everything he truly thought he never deserved.

Red Dirt Heart 4 is Travis’ story.

And this is the story of not just one red dirt heart, but two.

Warning: If you haven't read books 1-3, this review will contain spoilers.

Books 1 - 3 are told in Charlie's POV, and finally we get to hear part of the story in Travis's POV.

It's been about 2 years since Travis, a post grad student from Texas walked through Charlie's front door. He was only supposed to stay for 4 weeks. Instead they fell in love, and he refused to go back home. Then Charlie asked him to "stay".

Life hasn't been a walk in the park. They've had their trials and tribulations to get passed. Travis being alone, injured and lost in the Outback. Charlie being insecure, feeling he doesn't deserve Travis and trying to push him away. Ma being ill. Charlie being outed to his employees and his neighboring farmers/station owners. Travis going back home for his ill grandfather and a misplaced email, making Charlie give up hope that Travis would come back home to him.

This final leg of the story is not without a couple of more trials and tribulations, but Charlie and Travis get through all of them, the way they always have, the best possible way, together. But mostly this leg of their journey was funny, sweet and romantic. Charlie and Travis finally get their awesome HEA. And even 25 years into the future they are still as in love, if not more in love than they were when they first said those three special words to each other.

I loved finally getting to see Charlie here on my home turf, well, Texas my neighbors to the West. I enjoyed getting to finally meet Travis's parents, even if I did want to smack Travis's father for a while. But even more I loved seeing Charlie finally believe that he is good enough for, and deserves Travis's love.

One of the things I love most in a book is a HEA.. I like it nice and neat, wrapped up in a bow, and double knotted so it's sure not to unravel, and that's what Ms. Walker gave me.

Charlie and Trav's love story is epic, beautiful, heartwarming, sweet, funny, at times heartbreaking and all consuming. I am so, so grateful to Ms. Walker for sharing Travis and Charlie with us. I've loved them and I will miss them.

Red Dirt Heart Christmas

Amazon

Travis had been here at Sutton Station for just over a year. We were technically engaged, not that we’d told anyone. He was happy just knowin’ I’d said yes, and I had some head-clearin’ stuff to work through. Knowing I was good enough for Trav was one thing, but knowing if I was good enough to be a husband and father was somethin’ else entirely.

Life at Sutton Station had never been better. Business was strong, Trudy and Bacon’s little baby, Gracie, was a few weeks old now and as cute as a button, Ma’s health was good, and my relationship with Laura and Sam was in a pretty good place. And Travis? Well, life with him was still all kinds of perfect.

But, to Travis’s dismay, Christmas at the Station was just another day. Another day of getting up before the sun, feeding animals, fixin’ what needed fixin’, and checking water troughs all while tryin’ to keep out of the blistering heat.

And this year weren’t much different. Only that it was Travis’s first Sutton Station Christmas. The fact we didn’t go all out with decorations and celebrations baffled him, and if I was bein’ truthful, it disappointed him too.

Which was why I had to make it a special kind of Christmas…

Charlie and Travis are one of my all time favorite couples, and I loved reading about their love affair in the Red Dirt series. I was so happy to see a Christmas story for them, that I couldn't hit the preorder button fast enough!!

The first thing I did when I got up on release day was check my kindle to see if it was there. I couldn't wait to dig in and I wasn't disappointed. I quickly devoured this story! NR manages to recapture the same chemistry, sweetness, love and humor between Charlie and Travis from the original series. It was great to see Ma, Billy, the crazy Wombat, Nugget and some of the other amazing supporting characters. This was a quick and sweet holiday read. Great for curling up on the couch with to see how Charlie and Travis spend their first Christmas together in the Outback!! I adored this story and if you loved Travis and Charlie you need to one click this awesome story now!!

SERIES RATING: 5 Stars!!!

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